Coolmegan123: I'm flattered that you're rooting for more of my original content! I definitely feel the same way, haha. Don't worry, it's coming soon. Just a couple more of these pesky cut scenes to get out of the way first. ;)
A/N: Well you guys have definitely proved me wrong on the views dropping because of KHIII thing. My stories had 118 visitors on Wednesday! That's more than twice my previous record for one day. As always, thanks to everyone who is reading, and a special thanks to the five people who followed and/or added the story to their favorites. Also, shout out to AiraAura, who left me a comment over on DeviantArt saying that they were loving the story.
It didn't turn out to be too long before we had another run-in with the blue-haired Organization member. We had received a message from the gang in Hollow Bastion that they had found Ansem's computer, which ended up leading to a whole new adventure after we accidentally got transported into the computer and had to help overthrow an evil program that was trying to take over the world. While we were in town, King Mickey arrived, and we finally got the chance to actually talk to him. He was able to shed some light on some of the details about Ansem, who was apparently actually named Xehanort, including the fact that it was his Nobody who was currently running the Organization. The King was hoping to go and find the original Ansem, known as Ansem the Wise, to get some help with this whole mess, but agreed to help us find Kairi first.
Before we could take off again, however, the Heartless and Nobodies that had been gathering in the valley outside of town suddenly began to march, and we had to go into battle. There were times during that fight that I wasn't sure whether we were going to be able to keep going, especially since we had already had to stop and defeat the mullet Organization guy first, but somehow we made it through all in one piece. It certainly helped to have King Mickey, Leon, and a couple of their other friends fighting alongside us.
Then the leader of Organization XIII himself showed up, and the King chased after him right into the dark corridor that he created, leaving the four of us alone again. Sora was understandably dejected, getting so close to the enemy but not being able to do anything to stop him or find out where his friends were.
As we stood there looking over the now-empty valley, someone spoke up behind us. "Way to fall right into their trap."
That voice I definitely recognized, and it was still one that made my stomach turn flips. We turned to see Axel leaning against the rock wall, staring us down with his arms crossed over his chest. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran in closer and prepared their weapons for battle, and I followed reluctantly behind.
"Come on, it's a set-up by Organization XIII," Axel remarked, pushing himself off the wall and walking nonchalantly to meet us. "Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless – that's his big master plan."
"Xemnas?" Donald echoed.
"The guy you just saw," Axel clarified, pointing to where the leader had been. "He's their leader. Got it memorized?" He tapped a finger on his temple. "X-E-M, N-A-S."
"Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?" Goofy asked, confused.
Axel sighed. "Man, you're slow. Every Heartless slain with those Keyblades releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after."
"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" Donald questioned.
"I'm not telling," Axel replied. Great, that was the one part of this conversation that I actually wanted to hear.
"So what are you here for, then, Axel?" I spat, my frustration finally growing enough to give me the courage to speak. "Get to the point!"
"Axel?" Sora threw me a bewildered look before turning back to scowl at the Organization member. "You...you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!"
"Bingo. As the lady said, the name's Axel. Got it memorized?" He pointed to his head again.
"Where is Kairi?" Sora demanded. Axel scratched his head, looking down at the ground uncertainly. "Please, just tell me!" Sora begged.
Sighing again, Axel leaned his head back. "Look, about Kairi...I'm sorry."
"Axel!" A new voice echoed from out of nowhere, followed by a sudden burst of darkness as a corridor opened between Axel and us. When it cleared, the guy with blue hair was standing there with his back to us.
"Uh-oh!" Axel gasped, and quickly disappeared into his own corridor.
Sora tried to run after him, but the newcomer put his arm out to block him from advancing. "We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment," he assured Sora coldly.
"I don't care about any of that!" Sora protested. "Just let me into the realm of darkness, okay?"
"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't." The man turned to face us. "We're taking very good care of her."
"Take me to her," Sora pressed.
The man narrowed his yellow eyes. "Is she that important to you?"
"Yeah. More than anything," Sora replied. Riku was right, they really did belong together. It was sweet, but made my heart hurt at the same time.
"Show me how important," the man told him.
Sora paused, thinking. Then, to our astonishment, he dropped down to his hands and knees in front of the Organization member. "Please," he murmured.
"So, you really do care for her. In that case...the answer's no."
I gasped, then ran up next to Sora as he jumped to his feet. "You rotten...!" he exclaimed, fists clenched by his sides. I grabbed hold of his arm, trying to keep him from doing anything rash.
The blue-haired man stared straight at me for a second, and my breath caught in my throat. Then he turned back to Sora. "Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless."
With a snap of his fingers, he summoned a group of large Heartless behind him, then held out his hands and gazed up into the sky. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they do not know the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free, until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."
A new voice now joined the conversation from behind us. "What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?" I jumped in surprise and looked back over my shoulder to see a creepy-looking woman emerge from a burst of green flames. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me!" she declared. "The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be my dominion!" She stretched her arms up into the air for dramatic effect.
"Maleficent, no!" Sora responded. "No more Heartless!"
I glanced at him in surprise. "Maleficent?" I repeated under my breath. So this was the witch who had manipulated Riku and still gave him nightmares to this day. I couldn't blame him, she looked like something out of a nightmare even just standing there.
"I do not take orders from you!" Maleficent sneered, summoning a new group of Heartless to surround the blue-haired man.
"Fool," he remarked coolly. Snapping his fingers again, he called Dusks from the darkness, who promptly devoured Maleficent's Heartless before turning to face us.
In a flash of light, Maleficent reappeared in front of us, using her staff to create a blinding wall of green fire between us and herself. "While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them – forever!" she commanded.
"Maleficent," Sora called, but the Dusks leapt on top of her, clinging to her shoulders and back.
"Do not misunderstand me. I shall have my revenge on you yet," she warned, before collapsing to the ground under the weight of even more of the Nobodies.
"Maleficent!" Sora shouted again.
"Leave, now!" came her muffled voice.
"I don't take orders from you!" Sora retorted. He started to rush forward, ever the hero, but Donald and I both grabbed his arms.
"Sora, c'mon!" Donald urged.
"But, what about...?" Sora looked back to where Maleficent had been standing. Her flaming wall was quickly dying out, and there were even more Dusks waiting their turn to attack us.
"Now then, where did we leave off?" the Organization member asked. He snapped once more, and the Dusks disappeared, but they were rapidly replaced by the first group of Heartless plus many others. We were surrounded.
"Which side are you guys on, anyway?" Sora complained.
"The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest," the man replied. With a wave of his hand, he prodded the creatures into beginning their attack. Sora and I both swung in unison as the first few jumped into the center of the circle, sending their pink hearts floating upwards.
The blue-haired man watched the hearts sail away with a smile on his face. "Yes, Sora, Meli! Extract more hearts!" I flinched at the use of my name. How did he know that? He disappeared into the darkness, leaving the ring of Heartless behind.
"No! The hearts!" Sora cried, watching them vanish. The Heartless had closed in on us and were ready to strike, but he was too worried about what the man had said. "Maybe everything we've done...maybe it was all for nothing." A large Heartless swung at him, and he blocked the shot but didn't fight back right away. "What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade?" he cried.
"Imbeciles!" Maleficent's voice boomed from beyond our sight. "You can't be trusted to do anything!"
Suddenly a pool of darkness opened beneath our feet, and we fell down into a black pit. I landed hard on my back, knocking the breath out of my lungs for a few seconds. When I could breathe again, I rolled over to see Sora not far away, pushing himself up off of his stomach and dusting off.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied. Donald and Goofy walked up, and we all began to look around. There was nothing but blackness as far as the eye could see.
"What's this place?" Goofy wondered aloud.
"It must be the Realm of Darkness!" Sora exclaimed. "Kairi! Riku!" His voice echoed through the emptiness.
"Shh!" I grabbed his elbow to stop him. "I don't know that this is actually the Realm of Darkness. It may be part of the In Between, and yelling is only going to get you a lot of unwanted company."
Before he could reply, Donald let out a startled quack. I spun around to see yet another hooded Organization member, holding a small, white box. Something about this particular man seemed familiar to me, though he was too far away for me to tell anything for sure.
"Who's there?" Donald demanded. He ran forward, but the man was gone before he could reach him. Only the box remained behind, which Donald immediately snatched up. "What is it?" he questioned, looking it over.
"Are you sure you wanna open...?" Goofy began, but Donald already had the lid up. "...that." Goofy leaned over to see the contents of the box, and Donald pulled out what looked like a photo. He handed it to Sora, and Goofy and I scooted over so that we could see over his shoulders. What I saw took me completely by surprise.
"Gawrsh, it's the gang from Twilight Town," Goofy remarked. "There's Hayner, Pence, Olette...and, uh, um..."
"Roxas," Sora stated. I blinked at him in shock. He was right, of course, that was definitely Roxas in the photo, but I never expected him to know that.
"You know him?" Donald queried.
"No," Sora answered. "The name just popped into my head. This is Roxas."
"You're right," I agreed softly. Sora turned to look at me and raised a questioning eyebrow. "I do know him. Or...I did. And you're right, his name is Roxas."
"But how would I know that?" Sora wondered.
I sighed and gave him a slight smile. "It's...a long story." I glanced back over at Donald to see him impatiently waving the other item from the box, a blue ice cream bar.
"Are you sure you wanna eat...?" Goofy began again, just as Donald took a bite out of the ice cream. "...that."
Donald pulled the bar back out of his mouth and looked at it in surprise. "Salty? No...sweet!"
I laughed. "It's called sea salt ice cream. I've had it before, it's...strange." The question was, why would a member of Organization XIII leave us a photo of Roxas and the other kids, and a sea salt ice cream bar? Were they trying to point us to Roxas' existence somehow?
Just then, the ice cream began to glow and float up into the air, signaling that another gateway was ready. Sora used his Keyblade to open it, but then frowned and glanced around anxiously. "Not yet! I gotta look for Kairi!"
I shook my head. "Like I said before, I have a feeling this is actually just the In Between. If it is, she wouldn't be here, and we should be getting out of here, too."
Sora sighed reluctantly. "Okay. I guess you're right." He gazed off into the darkness one more time. "I'll be back, Kairi. I promise."